from the silly-laws dept

Adam Thierer notes that Amherst NY has rejected an attempt by a Chuck-E-Cheese get a "game license," which makes him ask why anyone should need a special license to run a video arcade? He points out that this is basically a money grab by the town, which makes a lot of money off such licensing fees -- while also pointing out that if the city's concerns are legit (they claim worries about little kids playing violent video games) there are numerous ways to deal with that, from content rating systems to (gasp!) parental responsibility.

from the sign-o'-the-times dept

Here's an interesting little factoid pointed out by Clive Thompson that, while not surprising, does quickly indicate some major shifts on college campuses from just a few years ago. A report from Amherst on the technology used by entering freshmen in the class of 2012 found that only 1% have a landline phone, while 99% have Facebook accounts. Also, students arriving on campus registered, on average, more than one electronic device per student on the university's network. And, it would appear that the concept of the desktop computer is pretty much dead among students. Only 14 out of 438 students brought one.